FeedBurner Recent History

Feed Burner has been discontinued by Google yet it remains a very popular RSS feeder. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is an easy way to subscribe to many blog services. Rather than visit each site to see new content, new content can be pushed to an RSS Feeder or Reader and users can quickly scan for new content.

Google…turbocharges it [FeedBurner] and provides four essential features. It caches the feed on Google’s servers and delivers it quickly thanks to PubSubHubbub. Subscribing to a feed is easier thanks to an HTML page that replaces the XML file in your browser. You can choose to embed ads in your feed in order to monetize it. Finally, FeedBurner provides stats to content creators, such as the number of subscribers.TechCrunch 9/24/2012

With the rise of microblogging services such as Twitter and the ease of email newsletters some would argue that RSS feeds are obsolete. Though some applications such as Flipboard still rely on RSS. More importantly is that RSS appears to be the digital version of Vinyl Records serving a very niche audience of podcasters and digital hipsters. Indeed, now that YouTube has been professionalized, podcasting using RSS feeds will continue to provide another avenue to deliver content in an already crowded field. Also, RSS feeds provide an option for users who seek Inbox Zero and do not want additional email newsletters cluttering up their inbox.

With RSS existing in the nether-regions of content delivery systems it certainly explains the quasi-existence of FeedBurner as a service that is neither active nor inactive. Since 2007, Google has discontinued AdSense (2012), the FeedBurner API (2012), and has even dropped support service. However, it still remains active!

Setting up FeedBurner for WordPress.COM

I am not providing step-by-step instructions on how to set-up a WordPress.COM Feedburner as numerous articles exist that already do an excellent job of setting-up and configuring it for WordPress.

FeedBurner Features

FeedBurner can turn any https:// feed into an http:// feed. For example, users with WordPress.com accounts may run into errors when they seek to add their feed somewhere else. If this is the case FeedBurner can turn a secure feed into an unsecure feed. This may allow the feed to be added. See here for an excellent discussion on using FeedBurner with WordPress.com:https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/rss-feed-problems-6?replies=5

Podcasting Problems with FeedBurner

When you have created a podcast and uploaded it to WordPress and configured SmartCast on FeedBurner. Itunes requires two additional steps before it connects.

Test it out while in Itunes and going to File—>Subscribe to PodCast—>Enter in your FeedBurner feed.

“Podcast cover art must be at least 1400 X 1400 pixel JPG or PNG, in RGB color space, and hosted on a server that allows HTTP head requests.”

PodCast Cover Art 1400 x 1400 Error

This error is a result of your PodCast cover art not being formatted correctly or being hosted on a server that does not allow head requests. Note also, that Itunes PodCast Cover Art should be below 500kb or else you will still get the error.

Itunes Submitted Problems with FeedBurner

RSS Feed issues

One of the most common errors is an Internal Error. This is likely a result of your server. WordPress.COM users will not this error but WordPress.ORG might. The internal error stems from:

Incorrect File/Folder Permissions

Bad Code, or Incorrect Syntax in the .htaccess File

Incorrect php.ini Configuration

However, for WordPress.ORG users the error may be a plugin conflict. To resolve it you may need to uninstall all plugins and reinstall them one at a time to isolate the problem plugin.

RSS Image Issues

WordPress.COM users cannot provide video or pictures as part of their FeedBurner RSS feed. WordPress.ORG users have reported that removing “Summery Burner” under the optimize section will get pictures and videos to display in feed. The trade off is that your feed becomes longer.